Dancing In The Rain
by only-some-loser
Summary: After Genie and Dalia finally leave for their long overdue honeymoon, Aladdin seemed to be in a bit of a funk. A rare rainy day and a determined sultan find a way to make him happy again.


**AN: This is super short, and written super quickly, but I got the idea while it was pouring rain up north, and couldn't get it out of my head. You don't have to have read it first, or at all really, but this does take place in the same universe as my other fic "What They Say and Who You Are". I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!**

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Ever since Genie and Dalia left for their long overdue honeymoon, Aladdin had been different, and Jasmine could easily tell. He still performed admirably in all of his kingly duties - which Jasmine made sure to tell him. Her husband was much more insecure than he let people know, especially in his ability to be a good king, so she made sure that she always let him know that he really was doing so, so well - but he was more withdrawn, and forlorn. His smile didn't reach his eyes, and he didn't laugh like he used to. Jasmine tried to be around him as often as she could, because he was always better when they were together, just the two of them, but there was only so much she could do. She was sultan, and she had duties she had to attend to herself. Adjusting to life without Dalia and Genie was difficult, but not from a physical standpoint. They had been a handmaid and valet respectively, but both Jasmine and Aladdin hadn't truly needed them in that capacity. The two of them had really acted as confidantes, siblings, and even parental figures. But it seemed to be hitting Aladdin harder than Jasmine. She knew that they were coming back. She'd known Dalia for so many years, and trusted her to always come back, so she didn't have to worry about it. Things were different for her husband. He'd never had someone come back to him. The only constant figure in his life for years had been Abu, and Abu was great, but he was a monkey. Aladdin needed more than that. Genie had been exactly what he needed in terms of a male figure in his life. Genie was both a big brother and a father to him, neither of which he'd ever really had before. Aladdin had gotten used to having that presence in his life, and he was struggling without it.

Jasmine didn't know how to help him. There was a lot she could do as his wife and best friend, the love of his life, which he never hesitated to call her, but Aladdin still needed more. Aside from herself, Abu, and Rajah, Aladdin just didn't really have any friends in the palace. Because of his past, a lot of the servants and guards didn't like him, and they weren't shy about showing that. They felt that he wasn't worthy of his position, something that Jasmine knew Aladdin thought of himself as well. It angered her. He had to deal with his own insecurities of not being good enough, of being worthless. He didn't need Razoul and the other guards and servants piling that on him even more. Jasmine had tried everything in her power to convince Aladdin that Genie was going to come back. Genie himself had told Aladdin again and again before he left that he was going to come back, that he could never leave Aladdin forever, that he loved him and he was going to come back. It just took so much for Aladdin to believe that he was worthy of someone coming back for him, after living his whole life with everyone telling him that he was a worthless street rat. It was a mindset that Jasmine worked every day to help him break.

But today was different, and it was something in the air - literally. The normally dry desert was humid, and the scent of rain was carried on every gust of wind. Jasmine didn't fail to notice that every time Aladdin looked out a window and saw those dark clouds, he could barely contain his grin. It had to be the rain. Being a dry desert, it typically only rained two times per year, and today was looking like it was going to be one of those times.

Aladdin had made quick work of his duties for the day, and was sitting out by the fountain with Abu. The monkey went nearly everywhere with Aladdin, just as Rajah did with Jasmine. He seemed to be talking to Abu, but Jasmine was standing too far away to hear. Her husband wasn't wearing an outfit of royalty, but was instead dressed in the clothes of a commoner - they were much nicer than what he wore while he lived on the street, but still, they were not the clothes of royalty - and Jasmine had no idea why.

At least, that was until the heaven's opened and the rain finally started to fall. Aladdin's massive smile turned into a laugh of manic joy, and he tossed Abu up into the rain, catching him in his arms and swinging the both of them around. Jasmine couldn't help but grin at the sight of her husband so happy once again. Puddles quickly formed on the tiled ground, and Aladdin was just as quick to jump in them. This had to be why he had chosen to change into much less expensive clothing. He was still laughing and smiling, and Jasmine could hear Abu chittering all the way from where she stood.

"Come on!" Aladdin shouted, and it took her a moment to realize that he was shouting to her.

"Oh, no, I couldn't," she called back. Aladdin may have grown up on the streets and was used to playing in the rare rain, but she had grown up in the palace, and that wasn't something that royalty did. A princess did not play in the rain, and a sultan definitely didn't either. She didn't mind if Aladdin did, but she couldn't.

Aladdin ran over to her, water plastering his jet black hair to his forehead. It was absolutely adorable, but there was no way that Jasmine was going to let her husband know that.

"Come on, it's fun," he pleaded with her, taking her hands in his wet ones, a giant smile still stuck on his face. "It's not like it rains every day here, you have to take advantage of it while you can," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Look, even Rajah likes it." He nodded over to where Rajah was, running around with Abu. "Just because you're sultan doesn't mean you can't have fun and live a little."

Jasmine sighed. "Aladdin, that's just not something that royalty does," she said, but her words weren't taken how she meant them, if the sudden drop of Aladdin's smile and fall of his head were anything to go by.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he quietly said, dropping his gaze and letting Jasmine's hands fall from his own. "I didn't know-"

"No!" Jasmine quickly interjected. That wasn't what she meant at all. "I just meant that I was never allowed to, or supposed to, but you can," she assured him. It didn't seem to really be working.

"But you said royalty doesn't do that," he said, clearly a bit confused.

Jasmine lifted her head up proudly, and took a breath, making up her mind. "Well, they do now," she said. Jasmine grabbed Aladdin's hand in hers, closed her eyes, and ran out into the rainstorm. She squealed when the cold water hit her, gripping her husband's hand tighter. But when she turned to look upon Aladdin's beaming smile, she knew she had done the right thing, sopping hair and drenched clothes aside. Aladdin laughed again, a full and happy laugh, filled with the joy that made him the man she fell in love with, and he took her other hand in his. He spun her around, the two of them going around in a circle, smiling and laughing to their hearts' content. Out of the corner of her eye, Jasmine could see Abu jumping up and down on top of Rajah, but the tiger didn't seem to mind.

Finally, Aladdin stopped spinning them around, and said to her, breathlessly, "see? I told you it was fun." He was still grinning from ear to ear, happier than Jasmine had seen him since Genie and Dalia left. But before Jasmine could respond, Aladdin was spinning her around again, with that smile on his face that made her heart skip a beat.

Then suddenly, he stopped, and pulled her in close. Both of their smiles slowly fell, but not in a bad way. She stared into his eyes, and he into hers, and Jasmine swore that the world had stopped turning, that the rain had stopped falling. She fell more in love with him every day. In a moment of what felt like desperation, Jasmine reached up and kissed Aladdin, moving her hands from his own to the back of his head, just to pull him a little bit closer. Aladdin deepened the kiss, letting one hand cup Jasmine's face while the other found its way to her waist. Jasmine ran her hands through his hair, which was still so soft, even when so wet. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, soaking in both their love and the rain.

Finally, they pulled apart, if only slightly. Aladdin whispered, "I love you." He said it like a prayer in the dark, and it was all Jasmine could do not to take him into her arms forever and not let go. She loved him more than anything.

"Your Majesty!" came a cry from under the shaded part of the courtyard. Jasmine closed her eyes and groaned in frustration.

"Let's go dry off," she said, still maintaining eye contact with her husband and holding his hands in hers. "Then later, we can get back to this, and a whole lot more," she finished with a smirk. Aladdin blushed and looked away, but he was beaming once again.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," he said, lifting her hand up to his lips and kissing it gently.

Jasmine let out a small laugh once again, then quickly turned to walk back inside, where disgruntled servants were waiting with towels. She dragged Aladdin right behind her, but he would follow wherever she went anyway. As the servants helped them - and Abu and Rajah - to dry off, she couldn't stop herself from continually looking over at her husband, just to make sure that he was still happy. His smile never fell, so hers didn't either. As long as they had each other, their happiness would never end.


End file.
